The Worst Industrial Accidents In History [TIMELINE]

The ruins of the collapsed Rana Plaza building in Savar, Bangladesh, which housed five garment factories producing goods for popular Western retailers.

Photo: Reuters

Two recent high-profile tragedies -- the garment factory collapse in Bangladesh, which killed more than 800 people, and the fertilizer plant explosion in Texas, which resulted in 14 deaths -- have put workplace safety in the headlines.

But those are just the most dramatic and recent examples of workplace hazards and unsafe work conditions. More than 100 people in the United States die every day as a result of their work, according to the AFL-CIO. In 2011, about 4,693 workers were killed on the job, and 50,000 workers die every year from work-related diseases such as cancer.

Certainly, no place in the world is completely immune to industrial accidents and workplace injuries, but those living and working in countries with less stringent work safety regulations often risk their lives to fill their bellies.

Check out this interactive timeline of some of the worst industrial accidents in the world in the past 150 years. Click on either side of the graphic to go backward or forward in time.